Article supporting and displaying device



INVENTOR.

B. SHENKIN Filed July 18, 1956 O o O O O O O O O O O O O O. O

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oooooho oooooo BERNARD SHENKIN ATYORNLYS ARTICLE SUPPORTING AND DISPLAYING DEVICE Ill March 31, 1959 United States Patent ARTICLE SUPPORTING AND DISPLAYING DEVICE Bernard Shenkin, Bellerose, N .Y. Application July 18, 1956, Serial No. 598,548 4 Claims. ((3. 211-55) This invention relates generally to article supporting and displaying devices, and is especially concerned with such devices as are adapted for supporting and displaying substantial quantities of articles of various types having a Wide variety of shapes and sizes. 7

While the device of the present invention has been primarily constructed and employed for use with cardlike objects, such as greeting cards, and will be described hereinafter with particular reference thereto, itis appreciated that the device is capable of use with an unlimited variety of articles, which broad use is intended to be comprehended herein.

it is a general object of the present invention to provide a supporting and displaying device which is adapted to carry relatively large quantities of various articlessin a relatively smallspace, while exposing the articles to view and affording easy and convenient manual access for obtaining and replacing the articles.

It is another object of the presentinventionto provide a device having the advantageous characteristics mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, which is extremely versatile in use, and wherein a single device is capable of. being quickly and easily re-arranged or adjustedto accommodate articles of various types and of greatly different sizes and shapes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an article-supporting and displaying device of the type described which is simple and durable in construction, neat and attractive in appearance, extremely easy to use, and which can be manufactured and sold at a reasonable cost. I

The particular embodiment of the present invention, which is illustrated in the drawings and which will be described hereinafter in greater detail, comprises generally a plurality of supports adapted for detachable mounting atselected locations on a perforate carrier.

Other objects of the present invention will become 1 apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings, which for'rna material part of this disclosure.

The invention accordingly consists'in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view showing a supporting and displaying device constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view illustrating a support of the device of Figure 1 apart from its carrier;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 4--4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view similar to Figure 3, but illustrating the manner of attachment and detachment of the supports with respect to the carrier.

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Referringnow more particul arly to the drawings,- and specifically to Figure 1 thereof, the embodiment of the invention illustrated therein comprises a, perforate platelike member or carrier generally designated 10, formed with a multitude of perforations 11 preferably equally spaced and arrangedin rectangular rows. A plurality of supports 12 arelocated at various positions and detach ably mounted on the carrier 10,-and groups of cards, or cardlike objects, designated 13, are illustrated as supported in pairs of laterally spaced supports 12.

The supports 12 are preferably, but not necessarily, fabricated of transparent plastic material, and each is formed of an elongate member 15, having generally an H shape in transverse cross section, and including side walls 16 and 17,;and a longitudinal web 18 extending between and rigidly connected to the side walls intermediate the longitudinal edges of the latter. Viewed otherwise, the elongate member 15 of each support may be considered as a pair of channels 19 fixedly secured in back-to-back longitudinally extending relation, so as to open laterally outward in opposite directions; or, the elongate member may beconsidered as one channel having its side walls extending beyond the web to define an additional channel. 7

An end wall20 extends transversely across one end of the H-member 15, the lower end as seen in the drawings, and closes the lower ends of the channels 19. The other, upper end of the H-member 15, remote from the closure wall; 20,- isbeveled or cut at an acute angle, as best seen inFigure 5, leaving the upper ends of the channels 19 open. Further,-the upper end 21 ofthe H-mernber side wall 16 is spaced downward or inward from the upper end 22of the side wall 17, longitudinally of the H-member 15. Stated otherwise, the sidewall 16 terminates at its end 21 short of the side wall 17 at its end-22.

As best seen in Figure 3, a plurality of supports. 12 are each arranged with its side wa'll17 adjacent to and facing toward the carrier plate 10. Further, spaced lugs 25 and 26 are provided externally on the side wall 17 of each support 12 for removable engagement in selected perforations 11 of the carrier plate to secure the support in any desired position on the plate. As best seen in Figure 2, a pairof laterally spaced relatively short lugs 25 is fixed externally on the side wall 17 oftheH-shaped member 15, adjacent to the closed'end of the latter. Further, each of the'lugs 25 is formed with an end'enlargement or head 27 of a size enga'geable throughthe perforations 11 and extending longitudinally of the support away from the lugs 26. Thelas't-mentioned lugs are illustrated as being carried by a spacer plate or abutmentmember projecting externally from the side wall 17 adjacent tothe open end of the H-shapedmember. More specifically, the lugs 26 project outward from the outer edge 29 of the abutment plate 28,-and-areprovided on their distal ends with enlargements 30 extending. longitudinallyof the H- shaped member away from the lugs 25. If desired, the spacer plate 28 may be considered as part of the lugs 26, in which case the lugs 26 would be substantially longer than the lugs 25. For reasons appearing presently, the lugs 26 or the plate 28 are preferably at least slightly resiliently deflectable, which resilience may be easily achieved by proper proportioning of the thickness relative to the projecting distance.

In Figure 5 is illustrated the manner of securing or detaching a support 12 relative to the plate 10. In mounting a support on the plate, the relatively long lugs 26 are initially engaged in a pair of selected holes 11, with the lug heads 30 extended through to the opposite side of the plate. The support 12 may then be manually urged upward, in the direction of the arrow 33, to resiliently deflect the lugs 26 downward relative to the support. In particular, resilient deflection of the lugs 26 may be accomplished by slight bending of the abutment plate 28. When the lugs 26 are inserted through perfora tions 11, the abutment plate edge 29 will engage with the adjacent face of the carrier plate 10, and thus define a stop or shoulder limiting movement of the support in its open-end region toward the carrier plate. Upon sufiicient upward movement of the support 12, as allowed by deflection of the lugs 26, the lugs 25 will be brought into registry with certain apertures of the plate and may be inserted therethrough to dispose the end enlargements 27 on the other or back side of the carrier plate. When up ward urging of the support 12 is discontinued, the lugs 25 will be resiliently biased downward in their respective perforations 11, as best seen in Figure 3, by the resilience of the lugs 26. In this manner, the lugs 25 and 26 serve to retain their respective H-shaped member 15 mounted on the carrier plate 10, and effectively prevent inadvertent dislodging or removal of the supports by engagement of the lug heads 27 and 30 with the rear surface of plate 10.

As best seen in Figure 3, the supports 12 in their mounted relation on the carrier 10 are preferably arranged in a forwardly inclined disposition, with the lower, closed-end region of each H-shaped member 15 adjacent to and preferably seated against the carrier plate, and the upper, open-end region of each H-shaped member spaced from the carrier plate. By this construction, both visual and manual access to supported articles 13 will be increased; and further, the angular disposition of supports 12 on the carrier plate 10 enables the upper of a lower support to partially overlap the lower region of an upper support, as best shown in Figure 3.

In Figure 1 it will be observed that a pair of supports 12 on each side of a group of articles 13 is arranged in laterally spaced relation with channels 19 of respective supports facing toward each other. Hence, a group of cards 13 may be inserted into and withdrawn from a pair of facing channels through the open upper ends thereof, having distal portions of the cards received in the channels and supported therein on the bottom walls 20 of the supports. Thus, a pair of supports 12 cooperate to carry and display a group of articles 13; and, the supports may be adjusted laterally toward and away from each other, or even vertically relative to each other, to carry articles of widely varying sizes and shapes.

While the two channels 19 of a single support 12 serve to carry different groups of articles when in use, it is of course appreciated that the support 12 may be formed with only a single channel, if desired. Further, while the lugs and 26 are illustrated in pairs, the lugs may be employed singly adjacent to opposite ends of the support and satisfactorily perform the detachable mounting function.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the present invention provides an article-supporting and displaying device which fully accomplishes its intended objects, and is well adapted to meet practical conditions of manufacture and use.

Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for pur poses of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the inventiom and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An article-supporting and displaying device comprising a perforate carrier plate, a pair of supports detachably connected to said perforate carrier plate, each of said supports comprising an elongate member of generally H-shape cross section having one end closed and one end open and arranged with one side wall facing toward said plate, each of said members thus defining a pair of oppositely laterally outwardly facing channels, and external lugs on said one side wall of each member spaced longitudinally thereof and formed on their outer ends with heads extending in respective opposite directions longitudinally of said member, at least one of said lugs being resiliently deflectable in the direction longitudinally of said member for engagement of said lugs in respective perforations of said plate and retention therein by said heads, whereby a pair of said members are secured to said plate in laterally spaced relation with respect to each other for receiving and supporting the distal portions of articles extending between facing channels of said supports.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein one lug of each member is relatively short and located adjacent to the closed member end and the other lug of each member is relatively long and located adjacent to the open member end, and a shoulder onthe exterior of said one side wall of each member adjacent to the open end thereof and adapted for engagement with said plate to limit movement of the open end region of the respective member toward said plate, whereby each of said members is adapted to be detachably mounted with its closed end adjacent to said plate and its open end spaced from said plate.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the other side wall of each member terminates at the open member end short of said one side wall, to facilitate the insertion of articles into the channels of said members.

4. A device according to claim 1, in combination with a third support substantially identical to the supports of said first-named pair and secured to said plate in laterally spaced relation with respect to said pair of supports, for receiving and supporting the distal portions of articles extending between facing channels of said third support and the adjacent support of said pair of supports.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 161,815 Beeman Feb. 6, 1951 774,495 Richard Nov. 8, 1904 814,438 Franke Mar. 6, 1906 1,515,058 Lindhe Nov. 11, 1924 2,437,415 Berry Mar. 9, 1948 2,499,049 Yates Feb. 28, 1950 2,614,701 Mapson Oct. 21, 1952 2,708,859 Adashek May 24, 1955 

